As the largest confectionery company in the world, mint flavor is a key ingredient in 65 percent of our chewing gum and confectionery products. We’re committed to advancing mint sustainability in the areas we source from to ensure this $700 million annual crop will thrive for generations to come. In 2017, we launched a global initiative, AdvanceMint, also known as Shubh Mint in India, to do just that.

WHY MINT SUSTAINABILITY MATTERS

Mint, a specialty crop grown in parts of the United States, Canada and India, provides a livelihood to more than 1 million farmers. Each growing region has its own agricultural footprint and different social, economic, ecological or environmental challenges. Through AdvanceMint, we’re working in tandem with farmers and experts in agriculture, economics and supply chains to better understand and address these challenges. Our focus is on implementing sustainable solutions – from using water and resources more efficiently and strengthening plant resiliency, to supporting communities through literacy, education, skills training and women’s empowerment projects. Ultimately, we want to extend opportunity, fairness, dignity and respect to everyone in our supply chain.

AdvanceMint represents the latest step in our long history of supporting mint farming and delivers on the Mars Five Principles. It also aligns with key elements of Mars Sustainable in a Generation Plan. As a family-owned company, Mars has always believed that business should create mutual, enduring societal benefits for the people of today and for generations to come.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE FOR MINT FARMERS

AdvanceMint

Shubh Mint

By 2025, we aim to:

Advance mint plant science

We’re collaborating with research partners to better understand the mint plant and the needs for the future of production globally to ensure long-term mint sustainability

Reduce water consumption by 30% in water-stressed areas

We’re contributing to a healthier planet by promoting Good Agricultural Practices

Improve smallholder farmer incomes

We’re partnering with industry experts and suppliers to strengthen the livelihoods of mint farming communities

AdvanceMint focuses on three critical areas:

Resilient Plants

We’re partnering with researchers and industry experts to develop a more sustainable and efficient mint crop.

Scientific data tells us changing weather patterns, soil health and disease are threatening the long-term viability of mint farming. We’re funding research with the goal of developing plants that can resist disease, produce higher yields, adapt to climate change and use water efficiently. Mint farmers everywhere face the challenges of global climate change and only through collaboration can we help address these challenges.

RESILIENT FARMING

In India, smallholder mint farmers face declining yields and increasing water stress. Over the next five years, we’re working with our partner, Agribusiness Systems International (ASI), to train more than 20,000 smallholder farmers in Uttar Pradesh – a key mint growing region – on the implementation of GAP. Our program will bring farmers together to learn about mint planting techniques, irrigation, soil health and intercropping.

In the U.S. and Canada, mint farming has a high cost of entry, which can sometimes make implementing new and better agricultural practices difficult. To help address this, we’re starting a pilot program in Fall 2017 that will offer annual funding to state mint associations. The funds will enable farmers to test or implement the best known practices aimed at reducing water usage, improving soil health and/or increasing energy efficiency.

Resilient Communities

In Uttar Pradesh, farmers are largely engaged in subsistence farming and mint is a valuable cash crop that provides them additional household income. However, their income remains low and they face a variety of socioeconomic challenges, such as gender inequality and educational disparity.

Through our partnership with ASI, we’re organizing more than 200 self-help groups for women in India to connect, access information and capital, and learn farming and other livelihood skills. We’re also supporting our suppliers’ efforts through READ India, a non-governmental organization (NGO), to fund new village libraries in India where books, computers, safe drinking water and training will be offered. These libraries will serve as community meeting places and help to build social capital.

In North America, we source mint indirectly from more than 300 farms, covering approximately 100,000 acres. To build stronger connections between our current and future farmers and consumers, we’re developing a program with universities in mint-growing states. The intent is to expose the students at these schools to the sustainable agricultural practices that mint farmers are employing, and create a deeper connection between those who grow our food and those who consume it.

Our Partners

We work with a variety of partners – including universities, scientists, extension agents, farmers, NGOs, trade associations and suppliers – that are collaborative, willing to work together on pre-competitive issues and contribute technical expertise. Together, we’re committed to co-creating programs that are mutually beneficial to farming households and drive positive social, ecological and environmental impact in our sourcing communities.

Since 2014, we’ve collaborated with ASI to conduct research supporting our mint purchasing team, inform our sustainable sourcing investments in India, and provide strategic design and agricultural extension support for our GAP program. Importantly, ASI is helping us implement Shubh Mint, as AdvanceMint is known in India, in eastern Uttar Pradesh. In 2017, we launched the GAP program with 2,500 farmers and began organizing 30 self-help groups for women. Later in 2017, we will release the results of our efforts and hope to scale this program to 20,000 farmers by 2021.

We’re partnering with Callisons to deliver our AdvanceMint program in North America and India. Callisons has innovated mint production and flavor profiles for over 100 years and serves customers in nearly every region on earth. With a century of experience in geographic and cultural flavor preferences, Callisons recognizes the importance of collaborating with industry partners to ensure healthy mint plants and thriving communities for future generations of growers.

As an innovator of sensorial experiences, IFF values mint and mint farmers’ hard work to bring flavor to consumers around the world. IFF’s investment in AdvanceMint will enable READ India to build a library in Uttar Pradesh for mint-farming community members in India.

We have a longstanding collaborative relationship with the Mint Industry Research Council, as a member of the board and technical advisory committee. The Council brings together all segments of the mint industry to collaborate on research and activities needed to sustain and enhance the productivity of high-quality and economical North American peppermint and spearmint. Current projects the MIRC is supporting focus on improving mint varieties with an emphasis on increased disease resistance for the long-term sustainability of the crop and a mint industry farm stewardship assessment.

The Wrigley Company Foundation and Pratham, the largest non-governmental organization in India dedicated to educating village youth, have joined forces to provide literacy and basic educational skills in more than 800 mint farming villages. Since the partnership began in 2013, more than 100,000 children have participated in learning camps, increasing literacy rates by 78 percent and math comprehension rates by 73 percent, giving children of mint farmers a better chance at future success.

READ India, one of our implantation partners, is a non-profit organization working in rural Asia to build community library and resource centers (READ Centers) and launch small businesses. READ Centers offer programs in education, economic empowerment, technology, and women’s empowerment.

Headquartered in Delhi, Sharp Mint Limited has produced mint ingredients including natural menthol and mint blends since 1989. Sharp contributes to our Shubh Mint program efforts in India, including supporting mint-farming communities through READ India and developing a more sustainable supply chain in collaboration with smallholder farmers.

Since 2014, we’ve collaborated with ASI to conduct research supporting our mint purchasing team, inform our sustainable sourcing investments in India, and provide strategic design and agricultural extension support for our GAP program. Importantly, ASI is helping us implement Shubh Mint, as AdvanceMint is known in India, in eastern Uttar Pradesh. In 2017, we launched the GAP program with 2,500 farmers and began organizing 30 self-help groups for women. Later in 2017, we will release the results of our efforts and hope to scale this program to 20,000 farmers by 2021.

Download our AdvanceMint infographics to see the programs at a glance

AdvanceMint

See for yourself how Mars is using AdvanceMint to create a more sustainable future for mint crops.